


Elate Week

by unchartedelissa (elissanerdwriter)



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 18:31:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10792311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elissanerdwriter/pseuds/unchartedelissa
Summary: Elena is hurting in more ways than one. Nate is worried for all the same reasons. They're going to be okay anyway.





	1. Monday {Day One} - Promise || Bond; I swapped it for something better

**Author's Note:**

> Lol this is a short one. Finally got around to finishing and posting more of my Elate week fics (by finally I mean it's... 5 months into 2017). Hope you enjoy anyways, more will be coming soon as I finish them up!

“Nate? Where’s Nate–”

Nate snapped awake, his chair scraping over the floor as he jerked upright. That was Elena. That was Elena, and she was distressed, and she was–

It took another second for him to remember why she sounded so panicked. Immediately, he stood and crossed the creaking floor to kneel beside her bed, ignoring the ache still present in his side. Her body was tense, back arched a fraction of an inch off the bed that he knew must feel like a foot. “Hey, hey. I’m here. I’m right here.”

Almost as soon as he set his hand next to her on the bed, her fingers wove through his, her grip strong despite her injuries. He could feel her shaking for a moment before she relaxed, her body releasing back onto the mattress. “I was so scared,” she murmured, eyelids already slipping shut again.

He didn’t blame her– it hadn’t been nearly long enough since the nightmare at Shambhala for her to have recovered, and really he was impressed she was conscious at all. But he missed her so much, and it was so painful to sit alone in this room for hours on end, watching her and worrying. He just wanted her back with him.

So despite his better judgement, he gently nudged her leg with their interlocked hands, just enough to make her mostly alert again. “Hm?” she asked sleepily, looking at him without moving her head. Her eyes were unfocused.

“What were you scared of?”

She hesitated a second, as if she were organizing her thoughts. “That you were gone already. And I wasn’t gonna see you again.”

Something twisted in his chest. He wrapped his other hand around both of theirs, looking her in the face until her gaze sharpened on him.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m gonna be right here, for as long as you need me.”

He could tell she was studying him, even in the fog that was trying to reclaim her. “Even when I’m better?”

Nodding, he settled back into a crouch. “Even when you’re better.”

She shut her eyes, but a small smile pulled at her face, making her look somehow healthier, calmer. “Good. Don’t wanna go through that shit again.”

He let out a surprised laugh, but it was clear she was already gone. The smile still hovered on her face, peaceful despite– well, despite everything.

And that was when he knew she was going to be okay.


	2. Tuesday {Day Two} - Adventure || Luck; fortune favours the bold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when you're in a strange location and your intuition starts tingling. Panic, of course. And then ask your girlfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Debut of the magical never-before-seen chapter! Not a specified time period, actually, so... the girlfriend part may or may not apply depending on where you want it in canon. I was thinking about some of the crumbling Libertalia structures, if that helps any. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

“There’s no way in hell this can work.”

Nate didn’t look at her, his face adorably determined as he messed with the mechanisms around the lever. Probably didn’t even hear her. She sighed, crossing her arms and glancing around to keep herself from pulling out her gun. Something about this room didn’t quite feel right.

“It’s a couple centuries old, probably got some wooden bits that rotted away years ago. It couldn’t have made it this long without at least a few broken pieces,” she told him, really only half-paying attention to her own protests. What was that  _ sound _ ?

Suddenly, he sat back on his heels, rubbing at his dirt-streaked chin with the muddy heel of his hand. She startled at the movement, catching sight of his eyes glinting in the half-light– still distant. “You’re right. This should be the right combination, but nothing’s happening.”

Elena took a deep breath, pulling her pistol and pointing it at the lever as she readied her stance. “Well, guess we’ll have to find another way in.”

“No! Wait.” He lunged at her, almost grabbing her arm.

“What?! What,” she said, trying to cover the frightened pitch of her voice. “Look, don’t you want to get to the treasure? Cause it’s behind that door.”

He exhaled slowly, shaking his head as he started pacing the length of the room and examining the walls. She resisted the urge to pull him back into the center with her. “Not like that. There’s something wrong, but I bet we can fix it. Come over here.”

“Nate, I’m not sure that’s a good–” She stopped, glancing nervously at the ceiling, then crossed to him. “What’re you thinking?”

“If the lines run through here… and the gears… but what about the…”

She rolled her eyes as he trailed into mutterings, turning away again and going back to her own investigation. She went to the other side of the chamber, trying to get a different angle on the earthen roof. Something about the lighting on it seemed off, but she couldn’t tell what…

“Hah!”

She jerked out of her thoughts to find Nate’s triumphant voice ringing out of what seemed like thin air. Heart kicking into a confused high gear, she ran back to the center of the room, looking around. There wasn’t enough space or cover for her to lose track of him, but he was just… gone. “Nate? Nate!”

“Relax, I’m right here,” he laughed, appearing from what seemed to be solid wall. “Come look, it’s pretty brilliant. They directed the natural light from that shaft up there– see it? And it hides the disruption to the curve of the wall, so you can’t even see it until you’re, like– on top of it.” He turned from indicating the various features of the deception to grin at her, face open as a child’s. She couldn’t help but smile back, feeling some of the tension in her shoulders easing. “I found our broken part,” he finished with a dramatic flourish towards the alcove. “Just put that belt back in place and that door should pop right open.”

He was right in front of her, face tilted down to her with so much excitement. She sometimes forgot what it was like to see him really, truly happy. Without really thinking about what she was about to do, she reached out and–

Punched him in the arm.

“What the hell?” he said, rubbing at his bicep.

“Don’t vanish on me like that,” she told him. “And you don’t know it’ll work. It could be another trap.”

He frowned. “No. It’s connected right to the door, how could it be– I’ve seen stuff like this before. There’s only so much you can do with three-centuries-old tech.”

“There’s just something off about this room. Even besides the– smoke and mirrors.” Elena gave him a reassuring look. “I’m sure it’s fine, dear. I’d just rather not take chances and have the ceiling fall on us, or the floor explode, or whatever else.”

The doors leading out of the room were big slabs of carved wood with no handles. They looked heavy, but…

“Hey, Nate? Come here and… just push with me for a minute.” She could practically hear him opening his mouth to protest, but she just waved a hand at him over her shoulder. “Come on, time’s a-wasting.”

Nate was already grumbling when he arrived at the other door. “Okay. One, two, three… aaagh.”

They both put all their weight behind their shoulders, scraping the doors inch by inch along the floor until something gave and both sides suddenly snapped open, dumping them into the next room. After a moment of catching their breath on the floor, Nate sat up with a look of surprise. “Wait. We didn’t blow up.”

Elena raised a slightly swaying hand to point at the outline of the doorframe on their side, where she’d been looking. “And there’s your lever, Nathan Drake. Leading straight to–” finger drifting sideways, to a complicated-looking mechanism with a visible bolt and firing mechanism like a crossbow– “I bet that points right at where that lever was, doesn’t it?”

He sighed long-sufferingly. “Fine. You’re right, Ms Fisher. You have… stellar instincts.”

“Well, you weren’t completely wrong either, Mr Drake,” she said, crawling over to him to press a kiss to his cheek.

In response, he slid an arm around her waist and kissed her forehead before starting to laugh. She joined him, helplessly, as they both looked back at the door.

“Luck of the adventurer, my dear Drake.” She kissed him once more before standing to dust herself off and look around the newly discovered room. “Let’s hope it lasts.”

“What can I say? Fortune favors the bold. And you are one bold woman.”


	3. Wednesday {Day Three} - Broken || Hurt; everything I touch turns to shit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was unavoidable. With every rise there must come a fall, and she thought they'd climbed so far. (non-canon referenced character death)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry. No one asked for this, and I delivered anyways.

She'd imagined it many times, but this… she’d never pictured it would happen like this.

What they had been doing changed so much from month to month that she never could guess how she'd hear. She'd imagined phone calls– to ID a body, to report an incident in their apartment, even from him in one fevered dream, his panicked breathing and her desperate questions ringing in her ears until she calmed herself by listening to his soft exhales beside her in bed. She'd imagined Sully asking to meet her, letting her cry into his shirt- the only person who could understand her pain at losing him. She'd imagined seeing something on the news, footage of a mysteriously collapsed ruin, a body found. She'd let her mind spin out situation after situation, as if it would prepare her for what was actually unimaginable– that it would come to pass anyways.

And honestly she’d expected she’d be with him when it happened– not during those times apart, maybe, or when they had moved into a steadier life, but it was unthinkable given how much time they spent in peril together that he’d get into any danger without her. And that was why it broke her when it finally happened.

The phone call wasn't a number she knew, but she'd asked one of her friends to spread her name and contact info a little– get her going in her new line of work– so she just assumed it was someone with a tip on a story. She answered with “Elena Fisher. How can I help you?”

The voice on the other end was scratchy and low. She assumed it was static. “Hello… um… is Nathan Drake your husband?”

She sat up straighter on the couch, tucking a leg under her and putting on her best I’m-the-responsible-one voice. He'd just left a day or so ago– how could he have already gotten in trouble? “Yes, this is she. What did he– is something wrong? May I speak to him?”

“I– No, that won’t be– I'm sorry, but I don't know how to…” Something dropped in her stomach. The voice was still rough, but she put it off again as bad service, almost an instinctual defense mechanism.

“I'm sorry, who is this?” she said, more firmly.

He hesitated. Slowly: “Elena… this may be a shock, but I'm Samuel Drake. Sam.”

She couldn't help wrinkling her nose when the man said her name. It felt inexplicably like a violation. Something was abnormal, and her stomach was beginning to ache. “Do I know you?”

“I'm Nathan's brother.”

Elena shut her laptop with more force than was necessary, setting it beside her on the couch. “Nate doesn't have any relatives, Mr. Drake.” She hesitated. She didn't know if that was true, but since he'd lived with Sully when he was younger, she'd just assumed that was always how it had been. Family was just a topic that went largely undiscussed between them. “He only has Sully– Sullivan and I.”

“Jesus. I didn't actually think he hadn't mentioned me.” A crackle of breath. “Look, I don't need you to believe I'm his brother. Just… he was working with me. And he… we… there was a…”

She cut across him smoothly, a shock of uneasy fear making her bold. “I'm sorry, I don't believe I understand what you're saying. My husband is in Malaysia on a work trip and he just called me yesterday. He doesn't work with another Drake, and he doesn't have a brother. I don't know how you got my number, but please don't contact me again. Thank you and have a good day.” Before he could protest, she ended the call and found Nate's number, calling it and holding her phone to her ear again with two shaking hands to keep from dropping it.

To her surprise, it picked up almost immediately. “Hey, girl, it’s me.”

Relief flooded her at the sound of Sully’s voice, but almost immediately two things stabbed into her hope and deflated it. His voice was tinged with something painfully like apology. And Nate hadn’t seen Sully in ages. There was no reason he should be with Nate, or have Nate’s phone. She decided to set both thoughts aside, at least until she figured out what the hell was going on.

“Hey, Sully. What’s happening? This guy just called me, said Nate was working with him, but he said he was his  _ brother _ .” She managed a laugh, pinching the bridge of her nose. “And it sounded like he was telling me Nate got– got hurt. Nate doesn’t have a brother, right?”

Sully paused entirely too long. She didn’t move. She didn’t realize she’d stopped breathing. “Kiddo, I– I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Sul, that’s ridiculous.” Again, the flash of doubt hit her at her own words. “Anyways, Nate’s in Malaysia right now. How did you get his phone? Are you visiting him? Why didn’t he tell me you were talking again?”

He didn’t say anything into the phone, but she could hear talking in the background. Slightly louder, so maybe he could hear with the phone held away, she asked, “Is that Nate? Can I talk to him?” She waited, hoping for a response or for her husband’s voice to drift across to her.

Finally, Sully returned. “Look, Elena, I thought you knew. I didn’t think he’d– I thought you’d both changed your minds again about this whole thing.”

“What? Sully, what whole thing?” She didn’t need to ask. Both her hands were clutching her phone. She imagined throwing it to the floor, as if that’d make what she was hearing distance itself and leave her and her husband and their whole life alone, but she couldn’t move. Her throat was closing up. “He– he told me about the Malaysia job, he said he changed his mind. It’s not that dangerous–”

“What are you talking about?” Sully paused and she heard another snippet of conversation. “Okay, look. Elena, I’m really sorry. Nate called me with a job, picking something up at an auction. He thought his brother died years ago in a prison in Panama, but he showed up and got him into this… thing. Nate got me involved. I just– assumed you were in on it.”

Elena’s head was spinning. She hadn’t ever– she knew Nate wasn’t completely content, but this kind of… he had a brother? Her eyes burned and she pressed against one with the heel of her hand, trying to stop the tears she could feel coming. She refused to let him make her cry like this– not again. Not again, Nathan Drake, God damn you. “N-no, I wasn’t. Are you even– in Malaysia?”

“No, we’re not, we–” He groaned quietly. “Jesus, the kid messed up bad. Look, Elena, it wasn’t supposed to be a big thing, but someone switched up the auction order and it turned into a big headache and Nate… Nate isn’t…”

She was beginning to remember what a ‘big headache’ felt like. “Sully, I need you to just– just tell me.”

“He… he got hit while we were escaping. They got him through the back window while we were driving away. I wasn’t being careful enough, I thought we were good, and then– all hell broke loose. There wasn’t anything we could do after that. God… I’m so sorry.”

She could feel herself listing to the side, but she couldn’t hold herself up anymore. She’d heard him, but whenever she tried to make the words form sentences she came up with a barrier. Because it still sounded like he was telling her Nate had lied to her about his work and his past and God knew what else, telling her the man who had called her wasn’t the one lying, telling her Nate was dead, and Nate couldn’t be dead. He must just be hurt. She could do hurt, they’d done it before, and it sucked but it was a long shot better than  _ dead _ . She realized her phone had drifted halfway down to her lap and put it back to her ear again. “Do I need to come there? I need to be there for him. God I’d love to punch him but that can wait, can’t it? Just tell me where you are and I’ll–”

“Elena.”

It was a different voice and it took a moment for her to recognize it as the one from earlier. “What? I can’t come see my own husband?” she said defensively.

“You know what Victor’s saying. Don’t do this to yourself.”

“I don’t give a damn what you think I should do. If this is your fault…” She tried to say it forcefully, but her voice cracked and she had to clear her throat before continuing. “Give Sully the phone back, I need to talk to him.”

Sam sighed softly and she heard him mutter, “Everything I touch turns to shit.” She almost choked on the laugh that rose in her throat, glad the phone was changing hands as a broken sound spilled from her mouth instead. After that, Sully’s voice didn’t make her feel as much better as she’d hoped. “Elena…”

“Is he dead, Sully?”

“Yeah.”

She appreciated that he didn’t sugarcoat it or explain further– despite her unavoidable morbid curiosity, she didn’t want to know more than she had to– but suddenly she felt terrifyingly lonely and impossibly heavy. She couldn’t get any air to speak or even help her head. How hadn’t she felt it, when he died? How hadn’t she felt it when he was torn away from her? Or was it even then– when, exactly, had she lost him?

She didn’t know. And she’d never be able to ask.

She didn’t remember hanging up the call.


End file.
